Eclipse/Installation

Installing Eclipse is relatively easy, but does involve a few steps and software from at least two different sources. Eclipse is a Java-based application as--as such--requires a Java runtime environment (JRE) to run.

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Install a JVM

Regardless of your operating system, you will need to install some Java virtual machine (JVM). You may either install a Java Runtime Environment (JRE), or a Java Development Kit (JDK), depending on what you want to do with Eclipse. If you intend to use Eclipse, then you should install a JDK (the JDK includes--among other useful things--the source code for the standard Java libraries). If you aren't planning to use Eclipse for Java development and want to save some disk space, install a JRE.

If you're using Windows, you may already have a JRE installed, but upgrading won't hurt.

The download will be delivered as a compressed (i.e. a ".zip", or ".tar.gz") file. Decompress this file into the directory of your choice (e.g. "c:\Program Files\Eclipse Indigo" on Windows). You can optionally create a shortcut of the executable file ("eclipse.exe" on Windows, or "eclipse" on Linux).

Note that there is a known problem with the built-in decompression utility on all current versions of Windows. We recommend that you use a more robust decompression utility such as the open source 7zip when decompressing an Eclipse download.

Extending Eclipse

Use the Help > Install new software... menu option to add Indigo features to your Eclipse installation (you can, for example, use this option to add C/C++ development support). Additionally, you can tap into a vast collection of extensions provided by the Eclipse community and ecosystem via the Eclipse Marketplace Client (Help > Eclipse Marketplace)